Specific Bacteria May Reduce Infection Odds

OCTOBER 01, 2005

Lactobacilli bacteria in the rectum
may lower the risk of vaginal infections,
as reported by researchers in the Journalof Infectious Diseases (August 1,
2005). The results of the study are the
"first to document that the lower gastrointestinal
tract can also harbor lactobacilli,
which are beneficial for vaginal
health," said lead investigator Sharon L.
Hillier, PhD.

For the study, 531 women had vaginal
and rectal swabs taken. The researchers
found lactobacilli in the vagina of 74% of the
women and in the rectum of 51%. Overall,
80% of the participants had evidence of lactobacilli
in the vagina or in the vagina and
rectum. Amajority of the women (67%) had
lactobacilli that produced hydrogen peroxide.
The investigators explained that
women missing hydrogen peroxide-producing
lactobacilli in the vagina have
greater risk of bacterial vaginosis.

The researchers hypothesized that
rectal lactobacilli may help preserve the
healthy balance of normal vaginal flora
and that this, in turn, is linked with a
lower rate of the adverse effects of bacterial
vaginosis. Common forms of rectal
hydrogen peroxide-producing lactobacilli
found among the women were
Lactobacillus crispatus (16%), L jensenii
(10%), and L gasseri (10%). An analysis
showed that only 13 (9%) of the 147
women with vaginal, or rectal and vaginal,
L crispatus or L jensenii had bacterial
vaginosis, compared with 12 (44%) of
the participants with other hydrogen peroxide-
producing lactobacilli.